Wednesday, April 30, 2008
:: Rickrollerz ::
There's an amzing buzz surrounding this remix of the 80's classic 'Never Gonna Give You Up' by ex-tea boy Rick Astley. This was and still is a massive party tune and was undoubtedly ripe for a noughties remix. The whole project apparently came from the internet craze of 'Rick-Rollering', where spam email links take visitors to the original video. The producers apparently got caught up in this craze and decided to re-work this wedding disco favourite. Personally, I don't believe a word of it!
I can't help but think that it's been a genius piece of viral marketing from the record company right from the beginning. PWL (Pete Waterman Limited), created hits for Rick Astley, Mel & Kim, Kylie, Jason, Bananarama, Dear Or Alive etc... and were masters of marketing in their hey-day. For example, in 1987 there was a white label 12" import that was being passed around DJ's and dance music fans of a supposed cool underground track from the USA called 'Roadblock'. It turned out to be the clever little scamps at PWL. Many, many, many people fell for the campaign before the track hit the shops under the group name of SAW (Stock, Aitken and Waterman) and 'Roadblock' became a massive hit for them, just like everything else they touched.
Welcome back Mr. Astley and perhaps I should say welcome back Pete and the PWL hit factory! ;¬)
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
:: Plastic Bag vs. Paper Bag ::
a) Keep a plastic bag in my pants for emergency use.
b) Acquire a man-bag/bum-bag/fannypack....
c) Stop shopping completely and survive by eating my own waste.
Whilst I am happy to help attack the huge problem of non-biodegradable plastic carrier bags littering the planet, I fail to see how charging punters is a solution. Surely it would be better to use paper bags!? Paper is bio-degradeable and the bags can be made from already re-cycled paper waste.

John Lennon's inspiration for his 'Plastic Oh No Ban'!
Incensed by this thought and feeling the pain again in my wallet as Gordon Brown (yes, he gets the blame) and the corporate suits steal more of my hard-earned wedge, I went home and hit the web for some answers. It seems that the paper bag manufacturers are quite angry too. See here.However, it seems that the plastic bag is not really the true villain and that they are more eco-friendly than first thought. See here.
It did occur to me whilst I was in the queue to buy my limp over-priced sandwich, a packet of crisps, a fruit smoothie, a 3 pack of socks and a slice of the most amazing chocolate flapjack in the world, that the packaging enclosing my purchases was far more harmful to the environment than the sodding bags I was about to be charged for!
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
:: Intro-Inspection ::

Check out Osymyso's other work on his website. Quirky is probably the best word to describe Mark's work, with his Eastenders creation 'Pat'n'Peg' still one of my all time favourite Osymyso productions. Long may he reign as one of the kings of the pop culture/mash-up scene.
The full tracklisting for Intro-Inspection is here.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
:: P...p...p...pick up a penguin ::
This year, the BBC surpassed themselves with the following news bulletin.
I saw this first thing yesterday morning on the BBC News 24 breakfast show and thoroughly enjoyed watching Bill Turnbull and Sian Williams only just managing to maintain their poker faces! The production took weeks of filming, 3d modelling and green-screen wizadry, with the icing on the cake being the cameo role by Terry 'Python' Jones. As spoofs go, it's a classic! See how it was made here.